Babies Online - The Blog

Absent Father Means Earlier Puberty In Girls

A PhD candidate at New Zealand’s Canterbury University has found that girls whose fathers are absent tend to enter puberty earlier than their counterparts whose fathers are part of the family unit.

The study looked at pairs of sisters separated in age by at least two years, neither of whom had experienced their first period before the change (or lack thereof) in the father’s presence. There were 68 pairs from father-absent homes and 93 from homes where the father was present. By looking at pairs of sisters, the researcher used a unique in-family design to provide some measure of control against genetic and socio-economic factors.

In addition to the finding that the girls from father-absent homes tended to have their first period earlier, the study also found that younger siblings in father-absent homes had their first period even earlier than their older sisters. This was not the case in father-present homes, possibly indicating a relationship between the amount of time a girl goes fatherless and the timing of her first period.

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Posted by SciFi Dad on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 at 6:01 pm and is filed under Health, News.
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